Conventions of Radio Adverts

Conventions of Content and Form

• Radio adverts last between 15 and 60 seconds, but are typically around 30 seconds, as this is the idea timeframe in which listeners are engaged with the campaign.

• The advert will inform the audience of the qualities of the product.• The advert will include the slogan of the product.• The language used will be adapted to the target audience.• The mode of address will be direct to the audience, making the simple

message hard to ignore.• It is imperative that there is not an overload of information, as this

leads to sensory overload, meaning the listeners will not take in or remember the advert.

Conventions of Content and Form

• There will be a jingle or music bed in the background which makes the advert stick in people’s heads, with a voiceover over the top.

• It is important that this music bed does not overpower the voiceover.• The voiceover will usually be upbeat to hold the audience’s attention, a

woman’s voice, with an English accent so that it is easily understood, with persuasive language.

• The voiceover guides the listener through the radio advert, and explains what the product is about.

• Both the voiceover and the music bed help to set the tone of the documentary.

• At the end of the radio advert, the voiceover should state details of where and at what time the documentary is being broadcasted.

Conventions of Content and Form

• There are often also sound effects within the radio trailer, which can be used to establish the topic, aswell as evoking a certain atmosphere, giving a taster of what the documentary is about.

• The use of facts adds an informative aspect to the radio trailer, providing them with a taster of knowledge on the topic, which convinces the audience member to watch the product to find out more.

• Facts also suggest to the audience that the product is professional and has been thoroughly researched, which appeals to our primary slightly older audience.

• Clips from interviews are also something which are utilised, especially in a trailer for a documentary radio advert, as these give an insight into the variety of viewpoints featured in our product, confirming the fact that it will be a balanced exploration.

Are We Going to Stick to these Conventions?

• We would like our radio advert to be between 30 and 40 seconds, as this is the timeframe with which the audience are most engaged, and with our trailer being about a documentary, this immediately takes away part of the entertainment value, so having the trailer too long would be boring.

• Our radio advert will ideally feature a slogan for the documentary, which we have not thought of as of yet.

• With our primary audience being quite sophisticated, this will be reflected in the kind of language used.

• We will have to ensure that there is not an overload of information while still using some facts to add weight and legitimacy to encourage the sophisticated audience to view it.

Are We Going to Stick to these Conventions?

• In terms of the music bed, we would like something quite upbeat to attract our audience’s attention.

• We have been inspired by the music used in a student’s production last year called ‘The Art of Artistry’, which utilised an upbeat track, and would like to use something similar to create an upbeat tone to our documentary to counteract the difficulty of the controversial topic.

• We would like to feature facts, figures and interviews, to give a taste of the full documentary, and encourage people to watch it.

Are We Going to Stick to these Conventions?

• We would like to use a voiceover with a London accent, as our target audience are urban and cosmopolitan, and we are mostly aiming and will be distributing to London and the surrounding area, so therefore having somebody with a similar accent will allow them to relate.

• David Beckham is an example of the type of accent which we would like to use… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVh66v-G1s

• As of yet we are unsure on what the gender of our voiceover will be.• Overall, we are planning on remaining fairly conventional with our

radio advert, as none of us have had any previous experience in dealing with them, although this could change in the production process when we start experimenting with our final production.

Institutional Conventions

• From our ancillary research, we found a radio station called LBC, which is a London based national talk and phone-in radio station.

• This means that they regularly discuss controversial political and social topics, such as that featured in our documentary on whether fast food is really good or bad for you.

• The fact that they are based in London is ideal as this is where we are targeting.

• The type of radio station is likely to attract a sophisticated audience, because of the topics of conversation, therefore would appeal to our primary audience.

Institutional Conventions

• The other institution which we are considering paying for advertising space on is Capital Radio.

• Capital attracts a younger audience, therefore would attract our secondary audience of 16-19 year olds.

• Furthermore, capital attracts a more urban and cosmopolitan, mainstream audience, which is our target audience.

• The only problem with Capital is that we are unsure on whether the mainstream audience would be the same audience who would be likely to go to independent cinemas and short film festivals.